Pros:

Cons:

The Virtual On series has always been somewhat of a misfit. While the cops, strikers, fighters, and other Sega arcade hits have always been Virtua, the mech game was Virtual. What for, and why "On?" We'll never know. Virtual-On Marz so closely resembles its predecessors in its look and feel that it seems like Sega really is treating the series like a misfit -- by not devoting any real effort to update the gameplay, or make it competitive with other games in the genre.

As in previous games, the player controls a mech known as a Virtuaroid (a.k.a. "VR") from a third-person perspective. Marz offers three control schemes: auto, advanced, and twin stick, along with a user-definable option. The problem is, none of them really are good for the movement style. The twin stick control scheme, which most closely replicates the Battlezone-style arcade control sticks, is a bit awkward on a PS2 controller.

Using the shoulder buttons to control your weapons and dashing instead of having those buttons on the sticks takes quite a bit of getting used to. Auto and advanced -- which use one analog stick for movement and the other for turning -- are frustrating, because making a tight turn while moving is intuitive, but can't be done in the Virtual-On world. To make a turn, you either have to stop, or put up with a ridiculously wide turning radius while your VR pumps its legs like it's trying to run on ice.

While the restrictions on movement make for some interesting gameplay, there's a disconnect between what a newcomer would expect of an agile-looking, brightly colored mech and how it's actually capable of moving. Thus, the series has had somewhat of a limited appeal towards a very hardcore audience. But Marz is a disappointment for them as well, as it fails to provide any multiplayer options besides a two-player split-screen mode, and combat that is barely any different.

While the back of the case promises "over 40 playable mechs," a lot of them are just a base VR type, mostly the Temjin and Vox models, with different paint jobs and a different right-hand weapon. In fact, the first VR you're likely to unlock in the game's Dramatic mode is the exact same model you start with, with even the same paint job. The only difference is that its rating for medium-range attacks is boosted one point, from 5/10 to 6/10. Overall, there's still a decent variety of base VR types, but if the thing that had you most excited about Marz is the variety, beware.

Mech paint jobs courtesy of the candy factory.

Marz doesn't even have an updated look. There's very little improvement in its look over its predecessors, and what's worse is that some weapon effects actually drop the framerate. With no internet play and not much new in the game's mechanics, what's supposed to be the draw of the game? My guess is Dramatic Mode. Unfortunately, it's just got no personality, even with the occasional mistranslation from the original Japanese ("Oh no, Sgt. Hatter's bital signs are dropping!").

The plot is paper-thin like most fighting games, but the expressionless VRs don't bring enough character to prop things up. The missions themselves are predominantly straightforward combat against a series of one or two enemy VRs, with a few undramatic boss fights thrown in. In some missions, and in the game's other single-player challenge mode, you will fight alongside a partner. The AI is competent, but having a partner hardly changes the way the game is played.

Virtual-On Marz simply just isn't a competitor to other fighting games or other mech games. The combat is too esoteric for the controller, the environments are too outdated, and the single-player modes are too bland. The series needs a serious makeover if it's going to continue.